


The Happy Prince

by Griffinous56



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, The Happy Prince AU, X is the Prince, and Zero is the swallow, blame Oscar Wide, but I made him a canary in this one, now i’m sad, why did I write this, words vomited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 04:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17460308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griffinous56/pseuds/Griffinous56
Summary: “...Are you an idiot of what?” Bite back the canary, though there was no malice in his voice. “If not for me now, how can you see thing anymore?”“But Zero, shouldn’t you…” X replied, confusion in his voice.“Enough. I won’t fly to the south anymore. I will stay with you always.”—————Or when two souls met and an end that was not meant to be





	The Happy Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I read The Happy Prince and now I just, this pairing is begging for this AU and now I’m sad

High above the city, up in the grassy field of Neo Arcadia, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was known as X, prince of Neo Arcadia kingdom in the long lost past. He was draped in the finest armor with the sky blue sheen, laced with fine leafy gold. His eyes were made of two bright emerald and his helmet emblem with a ruby glistening in the sunlights. The Happy Prince once known as the symbol of hope in his past life, of the goodness that the past severely lacked. In his death, the people build his statue in the loving memories of the bright prince who never cried and show weaknesses, as holy and beautiful as an angle, up up high on the hill and the high column in the middle of the city. For they wished X always could see the view he loved with all his heart in the past life.

 

One day in the end of autumn, there was a canary flew over to the city, heading to the sunny sky, seeking refuge in the land of the South. This little bird with ashes cling on to yellow feathers for he had escaped from a fire in his pinewood home. As his home were destroyed, the canary has to migrate to the south, trying his best to survive the harsh winter ahead. 

 

After a long flight, he arrived Neo Arcadia at night time, looking for a place to put up before the next day. His eyes landed on the column with the big statue on it. It seemed like a nice place to hide from the unforgiving gale of the coming winter and the air was fresh. Prefect.

 

And it was a golden bedroom too, which was nice to have.

 

The canary then aligned himself down between the statue’s feet. Just as he lowered his head down, beak prepared to groom ashes from his wings, the large drop of water fell on him. The canary chirped, he quipping around for a culprit. The sky was clear as it could be and the bird wondered how could it rain in this season. The canary was about to ignore for the sake of his mind when another large drop splashed down on his back and this time the goldfinch chirped angrily. If it about to rain, than what was use of a statue when it couldn’t keep the rain off!?

 

When the canary opened his wings, prepared to fly away to seek out a chimney, a voice rang out: “I’m sorry, little bird, I did not meant it. You must be soaked by now.”

 

The canary looked up, surprised at what he saw. The prince’s emerald eyes were filled with tears, droplets of clear water running down his checks, sorrowful face reflected beautifully in clear moonlight made the small bird heart ached with pity.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“I’m X the Happy Prince.”

 

The canary flew up and landed on the Prince’s right shoulder, voice laced with curiousness. “If so, then why did you cry?” He spread his wings af if to emphasize his point, “You’ve quite drenched me just now.”

 

“Because the people had set me up so high that now I can see every ugliness and misery in my city. Even though my heart is made of lead, I cannot help but weep for them,” The Happy Prince replied with sorrowful, tears still flowed out from his eyes.  They had a beautiful sheen of green that remind the canary so much of his lost home, he almost weep too. “I would like to help them, but my feet had been fastened to this pedestal I cannot move.”

 

The canary crooked his head, looking at X thoughtfully. “That’s bad. Well, I’m just a canary who are looking for a place to stay through winter. Sorry but I can’t help you—.”

 

“Excuse me but can you tell me your name.” The Prince suddenly asked, thin stream of tears had stopped. This time, his face showed an emotion the small bird couldn’t make out of.

 

“...” The canary quieted down for a bit, then replied. “It’s Zero.”

 

“It’s so nice to meet you Zero.” X said, “Sorry to bother you this late but can I propose a request?”

 

Zero the goldfinch quipped his head to look at the Prince in surprise. “What—”

 

“In the outskirts of this city, there’s a boy who lives in wars. He’s been fighting against those who he calls brothers for years, with a hero’s duties lay a heavy weight on his young shoulders. I would like you to help him for him by giving him the ruby on my helmet, to let he know that he at least out here, he isn’t alone.”

 

“I don’t like boys.” Zero fidgeted. “A while ago some had chased me down on my own playground, throwing rocks to knock me down. It was thanks to my speed that I were able to get away from them.”

 

“I’ve flew away from my home when it was scorched down, unable to do anything but watch.” The bird scorned, “No, I can’t help you. I have to rest tonight to fly to the southern land. Beside, what good does a jewel is to that boy anyway if what you say is true.”

 

“You’re the only one who can help me,” The Prince begged. “Please, Zero. And I promise I will shield you from the harsh wind tonight.”

 

“But I—.”

 

“Zero, please fly for me.” X started to plead, looking so sad that it made Zero’s canary heart ached with sadness too.

 

Yellow feathers fluttered. Zero already could feel the night freezing frost settled in the air. “It’s very cold here,” Zero replied, “But I’ll be your messenger for tonight. Now tell me where the boy is.”

 

In relieving tone, the Happy Prince thanked him in a breathy voice.

 

Next morning, the canary flew to take a bath in the fountain at the square. He took  a liking to the cold water, but the thought of spending the next few months in this town made him grimaced. Last night flight had tired Zero out more than he thought and the canary had missed his opportunity to fly away when the sun started to rise. He had to leave soon, well after he said his goodbye to the Happy Prince at least.

 

“Hey, is that a canary?”

 

“That’s a goldfinch! It’s been so long since I’ve seen one!”

 

“What a distinguished stranger.”

 

Voices rang out around him everywhere he went on his way back to the hill and the high column where the Happy Prince stood, enjoy himself in the freedom of flying. “Hey X, this is goodbye.” Chirped the canary when he got back, yellow feather freed from ashes that had cling on for days. “Thank you for shielding me from the wind. I’ll fly to the south now, you lonely statue. When I return in next spring, I promise I’ll visit and tell you stories of the Southern land.”

 

Almost immediately after that, X spoke, but it wasn’t what the canary hoped to hear. 

 

“Zero, can you see that child over there?”

 

“...Hey, wait a sec. Don’t go ahead of yourself—.”

 

Yet, the Happy Prince ignored him and continued. “So young, yet having so much responsibility on her small shoulders. Rally innocents, those who have been stripped from their old life, standing up against those she once called family because of their relentless pursuit of a defected justice, for a greater good no one else can see. Not only that, she also develops a new alternative energy system all by herself. Think about it, Zero. A fourteen years old girl burdens with such duties, how the future—.”

 

“All right, enough already!” Chirped an irritated Zero, feathers fluffing up, giving to a certain statue’s martyr complex. “I’ll go, okay!? I’ll be your messenger again! Just give me the location and what do I have to take with me this time!”

 

“My right eyes.”

 

Dumbfounded, the canary looked at X with disbelief in his eyes. “What?”

 

“My right eyes,” repeated the Happy Prince, “Even though my left eye is made of pure emerald, my right one actually an synthetic emerald made of the purest energy crystal. It will help her a lot in her quests.”

 

“Please Zero, fly for me again. You’re the only one who can do this.”

 

For a few seconds, silent stretched in the air. This guy was too much to me, Zero thought. To push him like that without hesitation…

 

Then. “Zero,” came a firm voice.

 

Damnit. 

 

And so, Zero the goldfinch plucked out X’s right eye and flew to the girl with golden hair and eyes too blue.

 

The next day brought freezing breezes from the North, enough to made Zero’s feather fluttered up trying his best to keep his warmth. Winter was just on the doorstep, alarmed the small bird of how dire his situation was. He had to fly now before it was too late. Yet, Zero couldn’t gather enough will to get out of his safe spot between the Prince shoulder and neck, fragile body slightly shiver with every breathes he took.

 

“X, I have to go now.” Zero said when the tiny sun above rose to the top, “I’m serious this time. Dear Prince, I must leave you but I’ll never forget you.”

 

Quickly after that, the canary added: “X, I promise when spring comes, I’ll bring back another jewel for you, an emerald that have the color of fresh grass in the sunny meadow.”

 

“But Zero, there’s still one more thing I want to ask from you.” The Prince began.

 

“Denied.”

 

“Over a few blocks away, there are two kid who already had lost their family once.”

 

“Can you not hear what I just said?.

 

“They had been taken in by a nice young man, who care for them like his own blood. But now the kids have lost him to a war that was not meant to be. These two will go to war, sacrificing their life to save those are still here.”

 

“But I just said I won’t do it anymore. I can’t—.”

 

“Fly, Zero. That’s my last request.” Replied an even voice from above, harden tone left no room for objection.

 

And so, Zero plucked the remaining jewel on the Prince and carried it to the child place. Before he went back, the canary brushed his beak against the smooth surface of the orb, mind burdened with thoughts. When Zero came back in the death of night, X already prepared his welcomed and thanks. 

 

“Thank you, Zero. I’m sorry for delaying your flight. You can go now, take the path to the southwest along the stream and you will be save from the cold for a while longer before arrive the southern land.”

 

“...Are you an idiot of what?” Bite back the canary, though there was no malice in his voice. “Of not for me now, how can you see thing anymore?”

 

“But Zero, shouldn’t you…” X replied, confusion in his voice.

 

“Enough. I won’t fly to the south anymore. I will stay with you always.”

 

“But, little bird—.”

 

“I want to stay with you.” Said the canary, then he snuggled his way back to his old favorite spot between the Prince’s neck and right shoulder.

 

_ “I will stay with you always. Let me be your eyes and ears, let me help you with your wish of helping other. Let me be with you. For your wishes are my command.” _

 

“Look, that’s the same canary from before!”

 

“How odd, it’s winter now. I thought it should be somewhere in the south by now.”

 

Voices rang out around the canary and this time, he couldn’t find any joy in flying. The weather was too cold for a bird like him. Most of the time, Zero huddled in his favorite spot on the Prince’s shoulder, sometime went out to look for dry seeds which sometimes left on a window silt by some kind strangers who knew about the canary situation. Yet they still couldn’t understand why the small bird didn’t accept their offer of warmth near the fireplace.

 

“Welcome back, Zero.” X greeted him when he landed on the Prince shoulder. “Can you tell me what you see today?”

 

Most of the time, Zero went out to become X’s pair of eyes.

 

“Like usual, many have died.” Because that was how it always started. “There’s a child who has lost his father, standing at the observation deck over the city all day to mourn over a broken piece of visor.”

 

“...Is there anything else?” X the Happy Prince asked after some seconds of silent.

 

Zero sigh tiredly. “Can we talk about something else? The weather is so cold even my eyes almost get freeze over.”

 

“Let me tell you of the story back in my home, of the vast blue sky and majestic waterfall. I can tell you about the girl we help a while ago, of how she has completed her missions successfully. Heck, I’m a canary so just let me sing a song for you, just one song.”

 

“Thank you, dear Zero. Those are truly marvelous things.” The Prince said, “But right now, I want to hear stories of this world.”

 

“...There’s this girl who is being consumed in misery,” the canary finally started after a long pause. “She has lost her brother, whose body she couldn’t even retrieve. Then there’s this kid who have to become a soldier too soon, trying too hard just to find out that he was just a tool to someone akin to his father in the end.”

 

“I saw this lady, an orphan, who has lost someone she could call brother has sacrificed in the Great War, died for the greater good, for a race he put his faith in, only to repay in blood and meaningless deaths years later.” The canary continued, “She was reading a letter left behind by her sister, someone who pursued the world of everlasting peace.”

 

And Zero kept going. From the starving man who died in a shady alley, hands still holding a moldy loaf a bread, orphans forced to go to a concentration camp simply between they weren’t safe in their own home, to those who was killed when their only crime in life was existing. The canary sung on and on until he was too tired to keep open, nodding off to a restless sleep on the Prince shoulder, dream haunted by what he had seen, hoping that X would give him an order, something to do to ease the pain he saw in their eyes.

 

“Zero, can you take off those gold on my armor?” Said the Prince when Zero opened his eyes. “Take all of them off, one by one, and bring it to them.”

 

“...These gold matter not them them, my Prince.”

 

“Still, please do it for me.”

 

And so, leaf and leaf of gold was taken off and gave to those poor soul, leaving the Happy Prince looked dull and grey. But regardless, the Prince looked somewhat at ease.

Days blended into nights, and after the snow came the frost. The city looked as if it had been draped in fine silky white sheet, bright and glistening under the dull sky. When the people below enjoyed small happiness in the winter, the poor bird shivering with each breath he took, his big fluff of feather could no longer protecting him from the harsh breeze. The canary knew he has reached his end, but he still didn’t want to leave the Happy Prince for he love the prince so much.

 

The end was near and Zero the goldfinch Can felt it as time went by.

 

“...Hey X, I have to go now.” Zero said, struggling to fly to the Prince shoulder. Too tired, too sleepy to even spread his wings.

 

“At last!” X said, but he seemingly had no idea what the small bird was talking about. “You finally decided to fly to the south! You have stay here for too long.”

 

Maybe he couldn’t feel the cold, Zero thought. But that was okay, the Prince didn’t need to feel the pain of parting one he knew.

 

“I have a request,” said the canary, “Can I kiss you hand before I go?”

 

“Yes,” X answered, “But you can kiss me on the lips, for I love you so.”

 

Because of his life as a bird, Zero never cried before because he couldn’t cry, but for this moment, the canary wished he could. His only regret in in his death was he wouldn’t be able to help the Prince anymore.

 

“You… are unbelievable.”

 

Maybe this was truly his end.

 

And Zero kissed the prince, beaks touched the stone statue gingerly before he breathed out his last breath. 

 

But, if his existence meant to bring the Prince some happiness, albeit how small it was, the small bird was happy.

 

“You’re forever the Prince I love.”

 

With that, the bird fell down at the Prince’s feet, death.

 

At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. For the Happy Prince’s leaden heart had snapped right in two.    
  


No much knew the story after that. Maybe their bodies had been thrown in a furnace, their souls departed to a heaven above. Death was a destination, a mean to an end.

 

But to these two, their departure weren’t mean to be.

 

The story now closed at their deaths.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If I have time I’ll draw canary!Zero and Happy Prince!X, maybe


End file.
